03/23/2025
Life doesn’t take breaks to allow us to catch our breath. Fate won’t hold back while we adjust our footing. Time can’t be paused so we can brace ourselves for what’s coming. Life just hits. And, when it hits, all you can do at times is take it. But, that doesn’t mean you have to allow it to take you down. You’re not a victim of circumstance unless you allow yourself to be one.
Sure, there’s a good chance that life really is working you over right now. Maybe life is indeed hitting you with the ol’ one-two punch more often than ever before—I’ve been there—but as long as you keep fighting, you’re doing exactly what you need to do in order to set yourself up for that “break” you’re looking for. Catching a break is a lot like catching a wave: you have to actively paddle if you want the wave to take you. (I don’t even surf and I know that.)
Here’s the thing: s**tty s**t happens. Sometimes, in rapid succession. It happens to you, it happens to me, and it has definitely happened to anyone you’ve chosen to idolize or envy for whatever reason. Occasionally, these hits come so hard and fast that simply getting up in the morning feels like facing the ten-count of a title fight. And, every time we feel overwhelmed by too much, or too little, it’s imperative that we look back on all the times that we’ve felt this way before. To have come as far as you already have in life, you’ve had to overcome a barrage of life’s punches, and you’ll do it again.
Circumstances that you thought would be the end of you actually ended up making you. Look back on every time in your life that you were going through something that you felt you wouldn’t survive: a devastating heartbreak, the death of a pet, the loss of a job, a life-threatening injury, etc. If you’re alive (which you must be if you’re reading this), you’ve pulled yourself through some s**t that felt impossible at the time. Replay those successes and use them as affirmations that you’re capable of getting through this situation.
In other words, if you’re frustrated and depressed by a variety of things in life that are “just not going right,” that doesn’t mean it’s time to hang up your gloves and call it good. If anything, it might just mean it’s time to fight dirty. Now, I’m not suggesting that you start breaking some laws and s**t, but if you’re truly feeling suffocated by life, it’s time to start rethinking how you’re going about things. And, well, sometimes you have to get dirty before you can get clean. Meaning, the muck that you’re currently dwelling in might just be the test you need to prove to yourself that you’re capable of handling anything.
Lastly, to wrap this up as an easy-to-remember one-liner: When nothing in life seems to be going your way, all you can do is, well, keep going . . .
Now, if you’re in need of a pick-me-up in the future, you can pre-order my new book “Speech Therapy” for 65 of these short speeches—covering everything from death to heartbreak, pets to houseplants, and money to wilderness survival or by searching “Speech Therapy Book” on Amazon. The audiobook, read by yours truly, can be pre-saved now on Spotify, Audible, or Apple Books.
I appreciate the support.
